Embodiments of this disclosure generally relate to the field of communications, and more particularly to operating a network device in multiple communication networks.
A network device may communicate data over multiple communication networks. Each communication network may use a different communication protocol, such as a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Ethernet, or Powerline Communication (PLC) protocol. Some network devices communicate via multiple communication protocols using duplicate hardware modules that process different communication protocols. For example, a network device may have a separate analog front end (AFE), a separate digital signal processor (DSP), a separate memory, and a separate network interface for processing each different communication protocol. A network device that has duplicate hardware components may be relatively large, expensive, and consume relatively large amounts of power.